Galaxy barred

29/08/2011

At least cosmetically, the Galaxy Tab tablet bears more than a passing resemblance to the iPad. And as a result Samsung have been barred from selling the Galaxy after technology giant Apple won an injunction claim against the South Korean firm.

Apple argued in a German court on Thursday that Samsung had 'slavishly' copied the iPad design and the judge agreed that there are 'overarching similarities' between the machines. The result? Samsung will not be allowed to sell their tablet computer in Germany until at least September 9.

Richard Windsor, an analyst at stockbrokers Nomura, observed: 'The problem Samsung has here is precedent. If it loses the court ruling on 9 September, Apple will be able to take that ruling and apply for a ban in other EU countries as the design rights that Apple has on this are enforceable throughout the EU.'

Windsor added: 'While this is a short-term negative for Samsung, once it has access to the MMI [Motorola] patents via the Google acquisition, we think it should be in a much better position to fight back against Apple. By any stretch of the imagination, Samsung's [present] intellectual property position is weak, giving it little with which to fight back against the predations of Apple.'

The present battle between Samsung and Apple in Germany is part of 19 lawsuits between the two companies going on in 12 countries spanning four continents as Apple has made a number of claims against Samsung over infringement of their patents for the iPhone and iPad.